


Harmony's Return

by BrokePerception



Category: Nanny McPhee (2005)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-06-02
Packaged: 2017-11-06 14:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/420088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokePerception/pseuds/BrokePerception
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"There is something you should understand about the way I work. When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go. It's rather sad, really, but there it is." Harmony/Cedric</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. INTRODUCTION/FULL SUMMARY

**INTRODUCTION / FULL SUMMARY**

Apparently, it isn't going to be a happily ever after for Evangeline and the rest of the Browns, after all. Barely a year after the magical, snowy wedding, disaster strikes. Plague breaks out in the country, taking down numerous innocent men, women, and children. Mr. Brown finds himself responsible to protect his own and get them out of harm's way. He decides it is best to leave the country and to find their residence somewhere else, somewhere safe, before more victims in his family occur… even if that means having to leave behind the house in which his seven sons and daughters grew up, and where so many memories of his deceased wife live; even if it elicits so many protest from Simon and the rest of the children. Harmony is bound to return, for that one specific rule in little letters that says when she is so much needed, wanted or not, she must come back to the ones that, secretly or not, hope for her to pop up again.


	2. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Papa!" Simon almost yelled. "What if we don't really want to leave this place! What if we just want to… stay here?" He argued, looking around at the usually overfull living room he knew so well, that now looked creepily empty without its many colorful ornaments, of which his father had already packed most in several of the boxes seemingly put in strategic spots all over the room. The thought of him and his brothers and sisters having to leave all this, made Simon's voice slowly drop.

"Then I'm sincerely sorry, my boy," Mr. Brown answered his oldest son without really looking up at him, as he continued opening drawers and closets, to take their contents and put them in one of the dozen boxes; now carrying handkerchiefs towards the closest box, putting them onto the towels that were already packed, then neatly closing the flaps of the dark brown box, before pushing it aside to make more room.

"Papa!" Mr. Brown heard young Chrissie's voice from behind him and finally looked up to see all of his children gathered at the doorway, Tora holding baby Agatha in her arms, and Eric one-month-old Renee.

Mr. Brown swallowed and looked down, only then really noticing what he'd just gathered from the dark oak closet. His eyes meticulously ran over the framed black and white picture of him and his first spouse, who had died giving birth to their youngest of seven. In his other calloused hand, he held another wedding picture; one that had only been taken last year. He looked so downright untroubled, and happy. Unfortunately, he could not say that it was any longer true. He swallowed again, putting both framed pictures on top of the box he'd just closed. He'd put them deftly away later.

Mr. Brown walked over to his children and took his youngest sprout in his arms. "I'm sorry," he whispered, truthfully. "I just don't think it's safe here anymore with that flu hitting. I don't want to risk any of you being affected by it, and- and die, like Great Aunt Adelaide, and Mrs. Blatherwick and… Evangeline." Her name was hard to pronounce.

"Papa, I don't want to leave," Lily said, looking at him with large, innocent and sad eyes, holding onto her white chenille bear.

"Neither do I, Lily," Mr. Brown said, lowering himself on one knee to make better eye contact with her and the rest of the children, looking at each one of them. "I truly am sorry," he repeated. "I don't like it any more than you do," he admitted, and saw them hang their heads one by one, each heaving a deep, powerless sigh before turning around to leave. Even Simon, once the most exceedingly ill-behaved of them all, became quiet and looked up at his father with his brown eyes again, tear filled and sad, before slowly turning around and walking towards the room he shared with his siblings, to help pack their stuff like their father had instructed.

Mr. Brown got up again, looking down at little Renee as soon as all her brothers and sisters had disappeared: Simon, Eric, Sebastian, Chrissie, and Aggie in the arms of her oldest sister Tora. Renee looked exactly like her mother, even though it was hard to tell, since she was only a month old.

He hadn't really said the names in just a random order.

Around six months after his and Evangeline's marriage, a short letter had been delivered, addressed to whole of the family, saying that Aunt Adelaide had fallen seriously ill by unknown causes thus far. In the next two weeks, periodical follow-up letters with updates on her condition had reached their address, each letter describing that Madam Adelaide was a bit closer to death than she'd been with occasion of previous writings.

Around his and Evangeline's seven month wedding anniversary, the very last letter had been delivered, saying that dear Aunt Adelaide had sadly enough passed away as one of the first victims of a very infectious, and aggressive, new form of flu. It, too, included a most serious warning for them, for the last paragraph read that this awful, infectious disease was already spreading fast and easily, and that it would soon arrive in their part of the country as well. Incubation time was estimated to be barely a couple of days, just like its usual form, that ranged in between one to three days to show first symptoms after exposure. Victims usually survived highly two or three weeks until death occurred.

In the tiniest of letters had been included that Mr. Brown's family would, of course, inherit all of Adelaide's belongings. Her money had already been sent along and should be available to accredit at the local post office. Mr. Brown however still had no single intentions of ever returning to his Great Aunt's castle.

And just like he'd been warned, the infectious, fatal disease had soon arrived in their part of the country, hitting several of his close friends, his cook, and in the end even his wife. She'd kept on fighting hard for their little daughter, but the long and hard delivery had had its negative effects upon her immune system, resulting in barely having been able to hold on for two days after the first symptoms, and dying another victim of that new flu in the end.

That had been yesterday. Her body had been buried like all others to decline the chances of the disease spreading, just to create the best chances for the survivors. He did not want the same happening to his children, whose immune systems weren't yet fully developed. Miraculously enough, neither of them had been affected thus far; not even Renee, and neither had he. He didn't quite understand, for Renee had had breast feeding until Evangeline's first symptoms, because no one could have known she had been affected. Either way, he wanted to keep it that way, even though it was hard to leave everything behind. He sighed. "I guess it's for the better, Renee."


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"I did knock," Nanny McPhee's voice sounded, as she magically piped up next to Mr. Brown's chair out of nowhere. He didn't seem to have noticed, nor heard, her. "Mr. Brown?" Nanny McPhee wondered.

Mr. Brown looked up, and where someone other would have been surprised and asked her what and how, he merely nodded at her kindly, ostensibly just concluding her presence like it was only the most normal thing in the world to have their former nanny show up in the middle of the living room after the children's bedtime, and not having heard of her since a year before.

Mr. Brown's gaze was fixed intently upon the wedding picture once more, like it had been before her appearance; cheek resting in his hand as Nanny McPhee quietly sat herself down upon the chair opposite him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Brown," she whispered, honestly. "You were such a lovely wedded pair."

"We were," he answered, without really noticing himself saying this out aloud.

"It's truly a shame how the two of you weren't granted some more time together."

"How do you…?" Mr. Brown started, now looking up at Nanny McPhee slightly curious, though most of what was visible within the chocolate brown, was hurt, and grief. It would most likely take some time before anything else would take upper hand again.

Nanny McPhee silently nodded towards the joyful wedding picture from which it seemed exorbitantly hard to rip his gaze away. Mr. Brown's eyes briefly wandered back towards the picture, perceiving both their smiles – Evangeline's and his – as if smiling for the widest, and becoming even a tad unhappier immediately before sighing, looking away, then down.

Nanny McPhee remained silent for a rather long time; when she suddenly spoke again, Mr. Brown's head twitched up as if he'd forgotten about her being there in the last couple of moments that had passed without any of them speaking anymore. "I recognize it," she whispered. "That look," she clarified, when her respondent's forehead creased lightly into a frown of confusion.

She sighed. "It's the very same one that Father wore after the death of his wife, my mother. It's why he… in the end put them all away, into the left closet of the dark oak wardrobe, where he still kept her jewels after she'd died," Nanny McPhee said, smiling lightly at herself for still being able to remember even these small details after so many years.

It had driven him to insanity, the loss of that only woman he had really loved. He had died five years after her; completely out of his mind by that time, to the point of being unable to recognize his own children. She thought it to be wise not to share that part of her past.

"It seems like I'm not really meant to be happy; because everything I love, shall be peeled away off me nevertheless, and in my case apparently rather sooner than later," Mr. Brown spoke. "I wouldn't… I wouldn't have minded as much, had my extreme bad luck – especially if it concerns that mysteriously wide concept of loving – not always the bloody, damn tendency to hurt my children as well."

"These undoubtedly are very soulful words, Mr. Brown," Nanny McPhee said.

He slowly directed his gaze towards the dirty mauve arm chair opposite him, in which she sat. "I just want to give them the very best. I want all of them to be happy in their further lives, unlike me."

"Mr. Brown, then I think that what you should understand here, is the fact that none of them possibly could be happy until their father's smile returns, with that customary twinkle in the eyes." Nanny McPhee paused momentarily, but not long enough for him to be able to put something in between. "I would like to believe that the children have already gone to bed. I shall go check up on them, before going to bed myself. I assume that the free room on the end of the hallway could be put to my disposal for the time being?"

Mr. Brown nodded. "It's not been sorted out yet, though. I'm sorry, we have just gotten here, and the ch–"

"No worries, Mr. Brown," she said, rising from her chair, him instinctively following her example. "The children must have been far beyond exhausted after the long trip."

Mr. Brown nodded, then frowned. How could she have found them there? "Nanny McPhee, how–" he started, but was being cut off by her subtly.

"It's been quite a trip for myself," she said, pretending to give him a smile. She thought he could use one, and to her utter surprise, he quietly smiled back at her, even if only weakly.

"Thank you."

"No worries, I shall be here for as long as you will need me. Goodnight then, Mr. Brown."

Cedric Brown nodded. "Goodnight to you as well," he replied, and even before he had managed to finish his sentence, she had already vanished. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if he allowed himself some sleep, too – try, at least.

* * *

Very gently opening the first door on her left, Nanny McPhee found the girls' room. She slowly padded a few steps to the right, careful not to wake anyone, to look at the smallest ones. Aggie seemed to have grown quite a lot since last time she had seen her. Oh, dear. It had already been more than a year, too. Nanny McPhee sometimes tended to forget how much children grew into their first years of life.

Her eyes quietly wandered towards Renee, and she consciously smiled. She and Aggie appeared to resemble each other quite a lot. Mr. Brown's genes must have been dominant with both. Nanny McPhee quietly tucked Renee back in, for she seemed to have kicked off her covers in her sleep.

Smiling one last time upon the peaceful bedroom, she retreated before walking into the bedroom right opposite, where the boys were vastly sleeping – all except one of them.

Simon was restlessly tossing and turning. Her brow lightly creased in worry as she quietly made her way towards the edge of the bed and sat down upon it. "Nanny McPhee!" He spluttered. "You're back!" He hadn't been sleeping at all – just trying fruitlessly to find his way to the land of dreams, thus when he soon opened his not so sleepy eyes in annoyance of not being able to find something soporific – he had already tried counting sheep – the very first thing for him to see, was her.

"I am," she stated, simply.

"How–"

"You really need sleep, Simon. I don't think you have any idea how late it is," she interrupted, secretly tapping the tip of her wooden walking wand onto the floor, sending him into the dreams within instants.

Nanny McPhee's eyes supervised the bedroom, finding that all boys were asleep, too.

She concluded all was well, closing her deep blue eyes and sending herself off to the smallest bedroom at the end of the hallway, wondering how many magic still needed be done until she could go to bed, too.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A very loud bang sounded from downstairs, shrieking Nanny McPhee awake abruptly. She looked around herself wearily, noticing only faint rays of sunshine peeking their way into the bedroom. What was going on down there? She wondered. She assumed that there was only one way to discover, no? She sighed. Even magic and its owners needed rest.

Nevertheless, within instants Nanny McPhee found herself dressed in her usual black attires beside her well made bed; about to go downstairs and find who was causing all that noise there, that most likely came from the kitchen – if she could trust her more human instincts, at least. Maybe it could be little Sebastian trying to find something to eat again? She smiled.

* * *

"Mr. Brown?" Nanny McPhee questioned, incredulously watching as he seemingly unsuccessfully tried to cut a large bread into slices with a huge knife. Slowly, she walked over to him, looking at his poor attempts to make breakfast for them all. Basically whole of the counter was stuffed with all different kinds of food. She consequently assumed Mr. Brown had been up early to go get it. "I suggest you better let me handle that, before any accidents are going to happen," she said, fingers gently brushing against his as she carefully took the knife from him, and continued slicing the bread into even pieces, very meticulously, almost… mother-like. Cedric didn't think she could have children, but at mere points she seemed to go in 'mummy mode'; the organizing, issue solving, motherly kind of type.

"Maybe you could go wake up the children and ask them to get dressed and come down for breakfast?" She suggested, continuing with the bread without looking up. She then heard the sound of male footsteps on the flight of stairs.

Sooner than she would have anticipated, however, the same sonant footsteps were audible again. "I'm afraid to say apparently none of them feels like getting up."

Nanny McPhee finished cutting the bread, and laid the knife down on the counter, turning around to face him with her ocean blue eyes. "Alright then, I shall try go and talk to them," she said. "Maybe you could set the table in the mean time?" With that, she suddenly disappeared again, like many other times before that.

* * *

The dark blond haired nanny found all children gathered in the girls' room; Aggie and Renee safely asleep in their painted wooden cribs and the rest of them huddled up together on the last two beds. "I hear from your father that you didn't want to have breakfast?"

"We don't really like the food Papa makes," Sebastian admitted, looking up as she came to stand in front of the two beds.

"Yeah," Tora agreed. "Mrs. Blatherwick's cooking wasn't always enjoyable, either, but at least edible…"

"Evangeline's cooking was much better," Chrissie announced. "She used to cook when Mrs. Blatherwick had time off, and after…" After she had died from the same disease as their great aunt, and later their former scullery maid, who had been their father's second wife nothing more than one ridiculously short year.

Nanny McPhee did have her specific kind of methods to teach children all necessary lessons, like gluing them to their beds when there was arguing about getting up. This time, however, she understood that their behavior merely sprouted from unhappiness and grief, than simple childish naughtiness. "Would it make you feel better to hear that I prepared breakfast?" She wondered, not being entirely true about that, but not really lying about it either.

Sebastian's face started radiating again almost immediately. "I am hungry," he said, looking at Simon briefly.

Nanny McPhee allowed them a little smile, saying, "Come on, then. Go find yourself some clothes to wear. I shall see you downstairs at breakfast soon."


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

Harmony's Lesson 6: KEEP YOUR PECKER UP.

* * *

"I really like this cheese," Sebastian announced.

Nanny McPhee chuckled. "I'm quite sure you would have liked it where I used to live," she said. Mr. Brown couldn't help himself from looking up at her in surprise at these entirely unanticipated words from her past. She hardly shared anything about it. He didn't even think she ever had mentioned it before.

"Then where did you actually live?" Lily questioned in curiosity, looking up from her piece of bread. All children subtly turned to look at Nanny McPhee, wondering about her reply.

Nanny McPhee of course noticed this, brightly smiling. "I used to live in France," she said. "When I turned seventeen, I started…" Everyone, including Mr. Brown, was looking, waiting for the rest. She didn't finish, though. "I somehow ended up in England," she said.

New questions and exclamations sounded from different sides at once.

"Nanny McPhee, how does France look like then?" Lily wondered, eyes widened with excitement, and looking attentively, eager for more information. Tora's curiosity seemed triggered as well.

"Wow!" Sebastian voiced.

"Why did you leave?" Eric questioned, looking at her with creased brow.

Nanny McPhee subtly ignored all comments turning to Mr. Brown. "Mr. Brown, I thought maybe it would be nice to go into town after breakfast, and discover this new environment? I personally think it to be a very fine way of getting some fresh air."

Mr. Brown merely nodded, faintly smiling. "Excellent idea."

* * *

So it happened that Mr. Brown with his eight-headed offspring, and Nanny McPhee walked through Vancouver that afternoon. "Look! A squirrel!" Chrissie suddenly exclaimed, pointing at a large bushy tail that swiftly disappeared in the green. She looked up at Nanny McPhee with a pout.

Nanny McPhee chuckled. "I'm afraid these haven't learned to get used to humans like the ones in Hyde Park, that are taught to recognize us as a source of food."

Chrissie briefly nodded in understanding, taking Nanny McPhee's outstretched hand, and following the rest of the family, just when Sebastian's scream sounded, "Papa!"

Sebastian seemed glued to the local chocolate shop's show window with his nose and both hands, and Nanny McPhee could recognize the same longing look in the other children's eyes as well. She smiled, easily lifting Chrissie up on her hip so that she could look over the heads of the other children, at the huge silver colored chocolate fountain in front of the window. "Whoa…" she uttered.

"Papa, can I… we… get chocolate, please?" Sebastian wondered, turning around to look at his father and hopping up and down in excitement.

Cedric Brown briefly rolled his eyes, "All right."

Soon, the whole family and Nanny McPhee were walking through town again, each child licking and biting eagerly on their piece of chocolate; except Renee, for she barely was a few months old. Aggie had managed to get her hands on a piece of Tora's bar, though, which now resulted in Nanny McPhee carrying her on the arm and cleaning her mouth with a paper napkin. She wasn't really cooperative, though.

The children were laughing again. Nanny McPhee liked to believe this little trip in town had been one step in the right direction to help them get over the loss of their second mother. Evangeline had been truly accepted as such.

She couldn't help but think about France walking through Vancouver town. France. She had grown up in Nice, and even though she had become quite fluent in English and it had been quite some time ago, her level of French hadn't suffered under it. Nice. "C'est mon début, comme tout le monde a son propre," Nanny McPhee whispered to herself. _It's my beginning, like everyone else has their own._


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I did knock," Nanny McPhee suddenly sounded from behind him after putting all eight children to bed. Agatha and especially Renee had been tucked in a few hours earlier. Neither of the children had had difficulties falling asleep, for all of them had been exhausted by the walk through Vancouver, that had lasted longer than anticipated. Vancouver seemed to have had more things to explore than initially thought.

"Of course," Mr. Brown said. He never really looked up at this anymore. It seemed some kind of odd habit of hers to pop up just like that from nowhere specifically. "Thank you for this afternoon. It truly was a wonderful idea, to take them into town. I would like to believe the children have had fun."

"So do I," Nanny McPhee replied in that usual soft voice.

She turned around to leave the room, just when Mr. Brown got up swiftly from his seat and uttered, "I- I never could have guessed… You… France…" Cedric felt pretty nervous at that moment, for he couldn't tell whether Nanny McPhee would appreciate him asking after it, even though he had tried to disguise it. "I mean… Your English is simply impeccable."

"Thank you," Nanny McPhee whispered, giving him a brief smile, before turning around once more.

"Could I- Could I be impolite for an instant?" Cedric wondered, unconsciously padding after her as she had subtly created more distance between them each time she had tried to leave.

She nodded, frowning. "Hmm."

"I was wondering… I never got your first name, and…"

To Cedric Brown's complete surprise, Nanny McPhee chuckled, before answering him truthfully, "It's Harmony; Harmony Jo. I was… named after my late grandma and mother. I actually inherited most of my mother's appearance and characteristics," she said, thoughtfully, before adding within herself, 'And magic.'

Mr. Brown's brows analytically knitted together, making her go on with the story of her life. "My…" she started, breathing deep before starting to tell, "mother, died early giving birth to my younger brother. I had just turned seven that month. I still recall well, though."

Cedric listened carefully, slowly sitting down on the arm of the same dark blue chair he had occupied before. "Father died when I was barely thirteen going on fourteen. I was…" she paused, momentarily looking for the right word, it seemed, "forced, to have adult responsibilities at a young age. I had to look after my father, who slowly went insane after his wife's death, and little Albert, who left France around his ninth birthday, with one of the families we…" Nanny McPhee's head shook. She didn't understand why she was just telling him all of this, but she felt like something within herself had been released, just like a very strong… damn, maybe… breaking down. Words only seemed to keep on flowing, like an aggressive water stream that had found its way through the barrier.

"I wasn't his parent," she continued. "I only wanted the best for him, so I just let him, hoping that he would have a better life wherever their hopes would bring them. I was… young. I could hardly take care of myself."

Mr. Brown immediately felt sorry for having asked; it must hurt to retrieve things like that from one's memory, even though it had been quite a while.

"I then… lived alone for a couple of years, until I started travelling around as a nanny. I thought that there would always be at least one family in need of one."

Mr. Brown quietly assumed that young Harmony hadn't had anything left to live from. "And how long have you been travelling now?" He wondered, almost immediately looking down and excusing himself, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so curious."

"That's alright, Mr. Brown," she sounded. "I have been travelling for almost twenty years. I one day made my decision to leave France around the age of eighteen going on nineteen. No one appeared very keen on hiring that skinny girl who couldn't say two words in English. I started learning the language, though; and slowly life improved for me."

Mr. Brown nodded, and both adults just looked at one another for a few instants, until Mr. Brown suddenly said, "Forgive me, but you seem to have changed quite a lot since the very first time we met, or is it just me?"

"I haven't changed a thing at all," Nanny McPhee replied truthfully, frowning. "Good night, then," she whispered, before turning around and really leaving this time.


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mr. Brown was left thinking about the few little things of her past Nanny McPhee had let escape since she had been there with them in Vancouver. Canada appeared to have loosened up his children and her at the same time. It had been rather a very good decision of him to move across the Atlantic, where neither of them would any longer be in harm's way. Even though it had been quite hard and emotional to leave behind their memories together with their home; together with the empty pink chair that had belonged to Orphelia Brown, Mr. Brown really liked to believe that being shed from the reminiscence would help them heal as well. He still wondered how Nanny McPhee could have known about them moving over.

Nanny McPhee seemed to be more open about herself here than in England as well, where she had barely given away her job and last name. Mr. Brown still remembered her very first entrance in their home back in England; she had been rather unpleasant to look at, and now... He couldn't say if she wasn't or actually was still even the same woman as back then. She had become so different especially in appearance; there was not even a hint of warts upon her anymore. He wondered whether she really meant that she didn't understand what he just had been talking about. It wasn't like she had only gotten a haircut or something. That very first time, Evangeline had been there. Evangeline… He sighed.

* * *

Nanny McPhee eyed herself meticulously into the mirror, turning in every direction to try catch… something. She hadn't gained or lost weight without noticing, had she? She hadn't suddenly gotten warts or an extremely large nose and earlobes, had she? She tried to look better, concluding that her hair hadn't suddenly become grey or fuzzy and that she hadn't suddenly grown an unusually prominent, big tooth that all of the witches described in fairy tales had.

Sure, she could notice some shallow wrinkles around her eyes, but that was pretty natural if you got older, right? She didn't understand. She didn't think she had changed luch at all over the past years. She frowned, wondering what had made Mr. Brown think otherwise, for she felt quite convinced that she still looked pretty much the same in comparison to about ten years back.

She sighed again, and calmly turned away from her very own reflection, directing her gaze towards the window, walking towards it and looking down upon the city downstairs. As she looked at the men, women and few children – who still skipped around regardless time – passing by in the street, she wondered why she had lately been so much at ease with him and had told him about her childhood, which was a deep secret for anyone else she had known thus far.

Harmony at once remembered her mother's last words. Jo had been talking urgently even through hard contractions, before she no longer could; for that steady labor pain would slowly keep her from talking in the end, and Harmony's older father, her husband, would be arriving soon as well. One of their mutual family friends had gone to get him from the mine.

She still remembered the words clearly, even though it had been so long. "You have… magic running through your veins, Harmony. You have gotten the same gift as I did, and you are going to discover the grandeur of it all when you become older. I…" And then little Albert had started havoc upon their mother's condition again, and Harmony remembered clutching her hand tightly.

Harmony sadly leaned her forehead against the ice cold window, as old shards of memories filled her head again. She had been barely nine, but had never forgotten a word of what her slowly dying mother had said, nor would she ever. She had been urged from the room when her father together with the new local midwife had arrived, but she had already known. She had never seen a woman in labor before, but she had known nevertheless.

Harmony Jo McPhee still remembered the smell of the room that day; how sweat had been pearling on her mother's forehead and how flushed her cheeks had been. She had quietly suspected that her mother had had more pain than willing to admit, reassuring her daughter one too many times that she didn't have to worry, for she and little Albert were going to be just fine.

"I must warn you, though–" Jo had continued, breathing ragged, words becoming slightly incomprehensible. "and this is perhaps the most crucial of it all. I truly hoped you would be a bit older to hear this, but I need you to remember, my little Harmony…"

At that moment, she hadn't truly realized her mother was saying goodbye to her. It had only been years later that she had come to see that. "Even though you have inherited magical abilities, which can of course be wider than mine ever were – it actually has the tendency to do so each generation – you cannot interfere with matters of rich and poor or matters of the heart, not even your own."

"You shall one sudden day understand what I mean," Jo had rasped, weakly squeezing her only daughter's hand. "You will understand in time why you cannot interfere with rich and poor."

Harmony hadn't understood fully back then , and she had wanted to ask more, but even though she was still young, she had known deep inside that her mother hadn't had much strength anymore and should save her breath for the delivery.

"You cannot… interfere with matters of the heart, Harmony… I must tell you not to try either, for all you will create… is the opposite of what you want..." Harmony remembered wondering whether her mother had known because she had tried it herself.

"Matters of the heart will interfere with you instead… When you… find your own true matter of the heart… without magic… your magic shall be replaced… with the magic of love… from the first kiss…"

Harmony's eyes had widened confusedly at this, wondering whether she could be part of one big fairytale; not quite sure whether she was dreaming or not; whether her mother was being serious… or not.

She smiled sadly at herself in the present, thinking about her own childish thoughts of then. However… Even though she had gotten used to being able to travel from here to there in less than a second and sometimes felt like the all omniscient narrator of life; had gotten used to simply tap her wand just to make something magical happen… she sometimes still felt like being part of a fairytale.


	8. Chapter 6/Epilogue

Chapter 6 **/ Epilogue**

* * *

Harmony's Lesson 7: LISTEN TO YOUR HEART

* * *

Vancouver had warmed up a lot in the past couple of months. The bright yellow sun shone happily upon them as Mr. Brown sat outside in the garden with his eight children and nanny. He looked up from his journal to see her bottle feeding little Renee.

The Brown family had gotten some animals in the meantime as well. There were a few geese, chickens, rabbits and pygmy goats running around on the property. Christianna had really wanted another donkey, so there was one running around somewhere as well. There were pot-bellied pigs in addition to that, like the ones back in England; eight to be precise, one for each Brown child. Eight disgusting little pigs for as many wonderful children.

"Nanny McPhee?" Chrissie's happy voice suddenly sounded.

Harmony looked up from feeding the youngest child, noticing little Chrissie with a blue and green colored rope in her hand. She smiled. "Yes, sweetheart?" She had slowly gotten used to calling them by different pet names now. Somehow, her living with them felt different now unlike last time. She did more than just taking care of the children now. She happily managed both household and cooking, and according to the always empty pots and casseroles, she managed to do it all well, too. It wasn't truly awkward that all of the children preferred her cooking over their father's, though. She no longer took Sunday afternoons off either, for one reason or another.

"Would you please hold the other end of my rope? Lily doesn't want to. She's reading."

"Of course," Nanny McPhee smiled. "I shall be there in a minute, after I'm done feeding your little sister."

"Yay!" Chrissie exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement, yet patiently waiting until Renee had gotten to empty her bottle. Nanny McPhee slowly got up to hand Mr. Brown his baby daughter, then quietly accepted one end of Chrissie's jumping rope while oldest sister Tora slowly took the other.

The long colorful rope stretched as both walked further away from one another, then slowly started swinging it back and forth, low to the grass. Chrissie jumped over the green and blue colored rope each time it passed, giggling loud.

Mr. Brown eyed them with amusement, wondering where the rest of his children could be hiding, just when he could hear loud bleating, then saw one of the goats racing by with Eric and Simon after it. "Boys!" He said, but neither could hear him anymore, for both the white and brown pygmy goat and his sons had already disappeared in one of the bushes again. He calmly eyed Lily sitting under the large apple tree with one of her little romance novels. She seemed to be reading to Agatha, that was sitting on her lap. He assumed that Sebastian would be inside trying to find something edible and sweet in the kitchen.

"Come on, Nanny McPhee!" Chrissie yelled. "Jump!"

And like no one would have anticipated, Harmony chuckled, and joined in with Chrissie. She didn't trip when switching hands and turning around while jumping to look at Chrissie, giggling at least as hard as she did.

* * *

"Nanny McPhee? I really liked your spaghetti tonight. Are you making again soon?" Sebastian sounded that evening before going to bed.

"Really soon," Harmony promised, leaning in to kiss his forehead briefly. She couldn't quite recall how this had ended up to be a ritual, but it felt like it had been one since forever. She always leaned in to give Simon a good night peck on his forehead as well, but he simply turned away every single time. She could easily force him to let her just by one tap, but it wasn't within her nature to do something like that. Simon would accept her one day as well, she hoped. He had surely become less hostile already, but something invisible still seemed to strain him in liking her the same like the others did. Maybe he couldn't as easily put his mind off things? He somehow had always looked more troubled with changes than the others.

So, for the very first time, she only said good night to him and turned around to leave the boys' bedroom. She could hear his mattress creak behind her. "Nanny McPhee?" She slowly turned around on her heels to look at him, slightly turned towards her. "Aren't I getting a…?"

She slowly walked back towards his bed, sitting down on its edge. "I thought you didn't want one."

"I do."

She smiled at him kindly, briefly leaning in to peck his forehead for good night. He smiled back at her faintly, watching her get up and move in the direction of the open doorway. She turned around to whisper them good night in general, before switching off the light and disappearing.

Harmony slowly walked into the girls' bedroom, noticing all of them under the covers, except for Chrissie that was jumping up and down on her bed. Harmony chuckled, catching the third to youngest Brown daughter within her arms. She hardly still carried her wand with her. "Are you still jumping now?"

Chrissie giggled, but didn't protest as Nanny McPhee tucked her in. "Thank you for rope skipping with me this afternoon," she whispered. "I love you," she said, not really waiting for an answer, but leaning up to kiss Nanny McPhee's cheek. All of the children still called her Nanny McPhee, but she wasn't really seen as a nanny anymore; more like part of their family, although it wasn't really obvious for anyone which role she should take.

Neither of the children nor Mr. Brown had wondered precisely why she had come back, since she had always said that when she wasn't needed anymore, she would have to go. Maybe all of them were just too happy to have her back with them?

Sure, Mr. Brown and some of the children had wondered how, but since Nanny McPhee always appeared to have a way of ignoring that question, it had just become one of them things you wonder about forever, but won't ever get any answer to. You just accept them. Some parts of Nanny McPhee could be compared with the question of the chicken or the egg sometimes.

* * *

"Oh... Nanny McPhee, what are you doing up?" Mr. Brown's voice sounded lightly surprised behind her.

She calmly turned to look at him with a cup of hot milk in her hands, noticing him nervously fastening his robes again. "I could ask you about the same," she said, slowly sipping from her cup.

"I couldn't…" he started, words suddenly trailing off as moonlight washed over her dark blond hair, some strands having come down from their usual bun. Something within the darker blue of her eyes looked more twinkly than he remembered, too. Before he really thought about it, he whispered, "I never before… truly noticed… just how… stunning you actually are."

Nanny McPhee giggled girlishly. Thank goodness for the darkness hiding most of her now tickled pink cheeks. Cedric slowly moved in, taking the halfway empty mug from her and setting it down on the counter next to them both.

He tenderly tucked some of Harmony's curly locks aside, softly whispering her name. She surely seemed to be even prettier that near. Something bubbled up inside him, something warm that brought his lips down on hers, only finding Nanny McPhee's response after that one instant in which he had thought to have made the mistake of his life.

Of course, she had been pretty reluctant at first, because something so crucial relied upon it. Yet, from that moment their lips had met, Harmony Jo McPhee had known immediately that she wouldn't soon regret exchanging for the magic of Love.

Both adults broke apart at once, though, when suddenly Lily's shriek sounded from the doorway. "Nanny McPhee and Papa have kissed! Unbelievable!"

Yet, oh so much like Lily's romance novels described.


End file.
